


Aftermath, Rewind

by Im_The_Doctor (Bofur1)



Category: Video Blogging RPF, Youtube RPF
Genre: Angst and Feels, Begging, Canon Compliant, Caretaking, Caring, Confusion, Darkness, Desperation, Dreams and Nightmares, Help, Helplessness, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, Late at Night, Literal Sleeping Together, Mid-Canon, Nightmares, Panic, Platonic Cuddling, Promises, Prompt Fill, Protectiveness, Restraints, Soul Bond, Tumblr Prompt, Vulnerability, Worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-11
Updated: 2018-09-11
Packaged: 2019-07-11 04:59:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15965210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bofur1/pseuds/Im_The_Doctor
Summary: Jackieboy suffers a nightmare about the nine months he endured without Schneep. As it turns out, the good doctor himself is nearby to hear him.





	Aftermath, Rewind

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a wonderful prompt from Tumblr! "Jackie having a nightmare that he's back to the nine months of hell he endured without Schneep, and then him being waken up by the good doctor himself because they were cuddling and he was talking in his sleep. What happens next and whether tears were shed or not is up to you :D"

It all happened over again. His waking mind knew where he was— _when_  he was—but his dreams wouldn’t let him forget. Somewhere in his subconscious, he could still feel the warm, tangible weight tucked against his side and he  _knew_  for a fact that he was dreaming, but that didn’t make it any less real.

The breeze he’d thought was so gentle now cracked against his face, stinging his cheeks and bringing tears to his eyes as he plummeted, dizzily somersaulting over and over, paralyzed by a scorching, wrenching pain in his chest. The thunderous, rolling impact with the rooftop jarred every bone in his body but he couldn’t cry out—all of the air had left his lungs, allowing for nothing but a thin wheeze as he arched his back and kicked his legs, straining for purchase against the agony. The sun overhead was blinding him; the world was a dappled field of burning white, but the longer he stared at it, the more he could see thin branches of black crawling from his peripheral to overtake him.

When he opened his eyes again, he was in the dark, bound to a wall he couldn’t see no matter how far he twisted his head. There was no floor underneath him when he pedaled his feet; it felt as if he was hanging over the edge of the world. Stifled panic began to rise, distorting his vision, tingling through his skin, fingers trembling as he clenched them and leaned out, twisting his wrists in his struggle. The longer he did, the more aware he became of the muffled noises echoing down unseen hallways. As soon as he fully registered them, they became all too familiar screams.

_No—No!_

The panic soared from deep dread to icy terror then, exploding in his veins like a hurricane, billowing and bulging from him. The sweaty skin of his wrists gashed and tore as he thrashed to escape, his mind reeling around and around like a manic carousel.

_He’s hurt, he’s bleeding, he’s dying! He needs me and I’m not there! I have to get free, there’s no one else to save him! He’s alone! He has to—there has to be—I can’t get free, why aren’t I strong enough?! There has to be a way! Stop it, stop it, I can’t breathe! I can’t let it happen again! I can’t get there in time—I have to! My friend—He’s my friend—! I have to get outta here! Stop it! Let him go, just let him go!_

“Take me!” he howled, the tears searing trails into his cheeks. As they slithered over his lips, he could taste slick, acrid metal; his eyes were bleeding. It burned his tongue and stained his teeth and stuck in his throat as he sobbed and screamed, flinging himself against his restraints to no avail. “Please, please! Take me!”

“I d̴on͢'t҉ have to, J͡ackie̡b̨o̴y͝,” the Glitch purred, his voice bouncing in every direction around him. The hero gasped, flinching back against the unseen wall as a blunt, potent pressure struck his solar plexus. “I kn̨o͝w̧ yo҉u̢ ̨can a̛l͜r͘e͞ad̢y ͝f̵e͜ȩl i̡t.”

His head snapped forward with enough force to shock his spine at the sensations pouring into him. The sheer depth of this agony electrified all of his senses, forcing him into helpless twists and turns and convulsions against the metal breaking soft flesh, gouging into it—the pipe, the crowbar, that brutal knife. He could feel phantom blood dribbling down his jaw, his neck, the curve of his heaving chest, but it  _wasn’t his_.

“Hh—Henrik—” he begged as his adrenaline melted, prying away his will. The world inverted—the more he strained forward, the farther he was pushed away. He was  _losing_  him, he was…But he couldn’t…“What did he ever do to you?” he choked out, head falling, shoulders wrenched up and back as he hung too much weight on them. His strength was gone; he couldn’t get back up.

“I wa̴s ̵iņ ͞his ̡h̴e̷a̵d f̧ro͡m t͞h͠e v̧ery͟ star̕t,” Anti snarled, the growl in his voice clawing up Jackie’s back. “I g̶ave͢ h̵i͞m e͢ver̨y̵ o͠p͘p͘o͘r͞t͘u҉ni͝t͘y̛ ̢to ̡ _su̢bmi͜t_.  But h͠e cho̴s̢ȩ ̧to f͘ight̵. H͞e͘ c̵h͏o̧sę t͟o̡ si̡d҉ę w̵it͞h you— y͜o͞u̶ and̵ your ̨ _Ja̢cķ_.” His voice changed then, tinged in a malicious, predatory humor. “If i̧t wer̴en’ţ for y͠o͡u, I coul̶d have ͟pup͘pe̷tee͢red̸ ͝hi̴m and ̡en̴dęd his̨ s̴ųffer͢i̡ng̨ a lon̨g͠ ̴ti͡me͟ ago…Isn't it funn͡y ̶ḩow҉ ҉y̛ou a͜lw͞ays͜ ̵try ͡to ̧ _protec͝t_  him̧ and a͜l̷l ͟y͜ou do ̡is͢ p̴ro͠lơn͠g̵ ̧the i̢nev͡itable͘?”

Clawed hands ran over his shoulders then, squeezing them, fingertips digging into the soft place under the bone and drawing a faint, high-pitched inhale.

“You ͝think ̷yo͢u have͢ him̡ bac̨k̴ ͟now̨. Yo̸u th͡i̛nk yo͘ų'̨re go͠i͝n҉g t͢o get͠ th͘ro̧u͟g̛h this ̨t̵ogether, but ͠a̢l̢l y̴o̴u’re ͜do̶i͠ng i̵s͡ s̛ofţen̛ing͢ hi̢m f̨or̛ w͏h̴en̢ I ͘t͠ake h͟im  _aga̶i͢n_.”

* * *

Surprisingly enough, it hadn’t taken too long for Schneep to fall asleep once he was tucked against his friend’s side. It took even less time for him to come around again when a slurred, disgruntled noise escaped Jackie’s open mouth, like a protest or a retort. Hovering somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, Schneep distantly felt the other’s chest shift, searching for a deeper breath before falling into a shallow, hurried rhythm.

“Get up…gotta get up,” he mumbled tersely, tensing momentarily as if he were going to roll over before exhaling and slumping heavily back into place. “Get…get…”

It wasn’t out of the ordinary for Jackieboy to talk in his sleep during vivid dreams, Schneep mused drowsily, fidgeting to adjust against him and letting his eyes reclose. He’d probably have a ridiculous story about an invasion of reptiles to tell him in a few hours.

A few  _minutes_ , it turned out—that was all it took for him to be jostled awake again when the older Ego’s hand clamped around his bicep, tugging at him. Resigning himself to it, he did his best to lift his arm into the hold so Jackie’s fingers would stop twisting his skin.

“What’s wrong?” he murmured, blinking blurrily against the dregs of sleep. There wasn’t any answer; the only thing to fill the silence was his friend’s faint, thin panting. His fingers around Schneep’s arm tightened, enough so that he finally lifted his head with a wince, trying to maneuver away. “Jackie, that hurts. Buddy…”

“No—no, please, I—I  _have_  to—I—”

If there had been any sleep left to muddle the doctor’s senses, it disappeared like it had never been there as soon as Jackie cried out. It was a hoarse, sharp sound, broken, followed by oddly guttural whimpering. Pain. He was in pain.

“ _Stop!_ ” he pleaded tremulously, sweat beading through his nightshirt as he started to thrash. “Stop it, st—don’t  _touch_  him, you can’t—he’s—j-just let him go!”

“Jackie! Hey!” Schneep burst out as he scrambled up onto his knees, grabbing clumsily at Jackieboy’s nearest arm and gasping as the one he couldn’t reach swung out and crashed into the nightstand, knocking over the clock and his water glass. Desperate, he lunged for it, gathering his struggling frame into an embrace. “Jackie, wake up, you’re in terrible nightmare—!” Cursing, he pressed his back against the headboard, trying to steady the both of them as his friend kicked and rocked and writhed against him, tossing the blankets around his ankles.

“Let him go! Take me instead!”

“Wake up! Jackie, you’re safe, we’re all safe! Is a dream!”

After a rough thirty seconds, Schneep could feel Jackie’s effort dying down; he was wearing himself out. His cries were failing too, dissolving into dim, wavering whimpers. Once he’d gone almost entirely limp, Schneep leaned forward against him, uncertain.

“Jackieboy?”

“Hh…Henrik…” he moaned weakly, his head falling low against his chest. A beat or two later, it came back up and he stiffened, breath catching as he glanced panically around. “Wh—Where am I—? Where’s—?”

“You’re safe,” Schneep repeated, drawing Jackie’s wild eyes as he tightened his grip around him, rubbing circles into his shaking shoulders. “You woke me, you were making noise…It was a bad dream.”

The hero didn’t answer right away, but the terror lingering in his eyes gradually receded as he scanned Schneep’s face. What he was searching for, the doctor didn’t know, but judging by the exhausted relief that came over him, he’d found it. “Yeah,” he managed at last, his voice cracking. “Yeah…it was.”

Once he could feel Jackieboy’s heartrate settling back into its usual rhythm, the younger Ego sighed, sliding his arms away from Jackie so he could lie back down. He didn’t manage to get far before one of his companion’s hands caught his wrist.

“Don’t go,” he blurted out, his voice taut with anxiety. It was only when Schneep tilted his head that he seemed to realize how needy that sounded, hurriedly prying his hand away and amending, “I mean, you…you can stay if you want to.”

Chuckling gently, he shook his head. “I didn’t plan to leave you; I’m just getting comfortable. Is okay now. No one’s going to hurt you.”

“I—” As Schneep curled up on his side, peering up at him intently, Jackieboy swallowed hard. How could he possibly tell him? What would be the point of upsetting him? “I know. I’m sorry for waking you.”

“You needed me. Simple as that,” Schneep brushed it off kindly, patting Jackieboy’s closer forearm as he closed his eyes. “Is just fine.”

As he did his best to capture his racing thoughts, Jackieboy lowered his eyes, tracing the younger Ego’s calm features—as well as the fresh marks on his bicep, half-hidden by his sleeve. Jackie’s stomach turned. Those hadn’t been there when they’d gone to bed.  _Did I do that to him?_

With no distractions available in the falling silence, he could sense the precise moment when Schneep drifted back into full sleep. His hand fell lax on Jackie’s forearm and Jackie was forced to release a shaky breath as he covered it with his own.

“No one’s going to hurt you either,” he promised in a whisper, protective heart aching. “Not again.”


End file.
